International community to expand support to countries neighbouring Syria

A scene from the crowded Za’atri refugee camp in Jordan. UNHCR/J. Kohler

The international community will scale up support to countries hosting the more than two million Syrian refugees who have escaped the conflict in their homeland.

The announcement comes in a statement issued on Tuesday at the end of a high-level meeting in Geneva organized by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

It calls for "massive support" to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt, including direct aid to these governments, and financial and in-kind help to refugee populations and the communities hosting them.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres also welcomed pledges from countries to resettle more than 10,000 highly vulnerable Syrian refugees.

Representatives from more than 130 countries, intergovernmental agencies, and UN organizations participated in the two-day meeting.